Notre Dame Clips Orange in OT, 13-12

Saturday, March 28

South Bend, IN

12 pm

Syracuse University

7-1, 2-1ACC

Notre Dame

6-1, 2-0ACC

OT 1

Syracuse

Notre Dame

Photo by: Joe Raymond

3/28/2015 3:51:00 PM | Men's Lacrosse

Box Score

Dylan Donahue scores seven goals in loss

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The two top teams in the nation treated the crowd of 3,602 at Arlotta Stadium to a thrilling lacrosse game on Saturday, March 28.

No. 1 Syracuse and No. 2 Notre Dame matched one another goal for goal until the Irish's Jack Near scored unassisted with 2:54 left in the second overtime to lift Notre Dame to a 13-12 victory.

Near's winner brought to an end an exciting game that saw the Orange (7-1, 2-1 ACC) rally from a 9-3 third-quarter deficit to eventually take the lead before absorbing its first loss of the season.

"Notre Dame played well. They got a big lead on us and it was great for our guys to fight back and put ourselves in a situation to win the game," Syracuse head coach John Desko said. "We had some shots at the end of regulation and in overtime to put it away. They didn't fall. Their goalie came up big, and as a result Notre Dame made a big play to win the game."

Dylan Donahue paced Syracuse with a season-high seven goals, one short of his personal best of eight set last year against Siena. Nicky Galasso finished with four points on two goals and two assists, while Kevin Rice added one goal and two assists.

Near, Mikey Wynne, Sergio Perkovic and Nick Ossello all had two goals for the Irish (6-1, 2-0 ACC). Matt Kavanagh led Notre Dame with four points on one goal and three assists.

Both teams came out firing as the Orange and Irish combined to score on the first three shots of the game. Galasso and Donahue had first-quarter goals for Syracuse, but it was Notre Dame's Will Corrigan who notched the last goal of the period to give the home team a 3-2 advantage.

Consecutive tallies by Perkovic and Ossello in the second quarter made it 5-2 Notre Dame before Rice answered at the 3:08 mark to close the gap to 5-3 at halftime.

Notre Dame extended its margin in the third quarter, scoring the first four goals of the second half. Kavanagh had one goal and one assist in the run, and Near's unassisted tally at the 8:31 mark produced a 9-3 Notre Dame lead.

Facing its largest deficit of the season, the Orange responded. Galasso scored with 7:02 left in the quarter to spark a 6-1 Syracuse rally that trimmed the margin to 10-9 early in the fourth quarter. Donahue was virtually unstoppable, scoring four times in the run.

Jim Marlatt briefly halted the surge with his only goal of the game, but Syracuse kept charging. The Orange notched the game's next three goals, including a rocket from 10 yards by Donahue off a Galasso pass that gave the visitors their first lead, 12-11, with 1:06 left.

On the ensuing faceoff, Notre Dame's P.J. Finley pushed the ball forward. He picked it up, sprinted to the cage, and tied the game seven seconds after Donahue put SU ahead, forcing overtime.

Each team had one possession in the first extra period and both goalies made crucial saves to extend the game. Bobby Wardwell turned away a Perkovic chance with 3:13 left. Shane Doss answered for the Irish by stoning Donahue with 10 seconds remaining.

In the second OT, Syracuse won the faceoff, but the ball went over to the Irish after the officials ruled the Orange failed to back up a shot by Galasso. Notre Dame successfully cleared and Near curled hard around the cage and stuffed the ball past Wardwell to end the game.

Wardwell tied his season high with 11 saves, including eight in the second half and overtime to help the Orange claw its way back. Doss was outstanding in the first half. He had six stops in the first two quarters to help the Irish build their lead and finished with 12 saves for the game.

The Orange owned the advantage in almost every statistical category. Syracuse had more shots (44-35), more ground balls (37-27) and won more faceoffs (18-11) than the Irish. It also had only nine turnovers, compared to 11 for Notre Dame.

Up next for Syracuse is America East foe Albany. The Orange and Great Danes square off at 7 p.m. inside the Carrier Dome on Thursday, April 2.

Game Notes: Rice has 100 assists in 50 career games. He is the ninth Syracuse player to reach the century mark and he is eight assists shy of Jamie Archer (1990-93) for eighth on the school's all-time list … Defensive midfielder Mike Messina set a career high with three caused turnovers … Ben Williams won at least 15 faceoffs for the fifth time this season. Williams was 18-for-29 (.621) at the X and picked up 12 ground balls, one short of his career high … The last three games between Syracuse and Notre Dame have all been decided by one goal … The loss ended Syracuse's three-game overtime winning streak. Prior to Saturday, the Orange's last extra-session loss was on Feb. 17, 2013 to Albany, 16-15.